


The Tonic of Wildness

by Mersheeple



Series: MountainMan Snape [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28487340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/pseuds/Mersheeple
Summary: Hermione leaves Severus alone on the mountain, travelling to England.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: MountainMan Snape [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942096
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	The Tonic of Wildness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Viridiantly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridiantly/gifts), [Morbidmuch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbidmuch/gifts).



> Thank you for the prompt of "Family" MM.
> 
> And thank you to ALL of H&C for becoming like family to me...💗

“I want to go home. I miss them.” Hermione’s voice was quiet, the tears shining in her eyes as she looked up from the postcard she had received from Harry and his family, informing her that his twins had been born; Harry was now the proud father of three children. She had been there for the birth of James Sirius but had missed the birth of Amelia Lily and Remus Albus because she was here, in Switzerland, with Severus. Harry’s wife, Susan Bones, had definitely had a hand in his children’s names and Hermione was relieved. She loved Harry but he had awful taste in the people he chose to honour.

“I won’t be coming with you. There is nothing there I miss. This is my home now. I hope you understand?” Severus’s speech pattern was stilted, and Hermione nodded sadly. He was so closed off all of a sudden. She had made so much progress with getting him to open up, to have fun with her, to tease and be teased. This felt like he had put his Professor Snape mask back on and stepped away from her. He gave her a sharp nod of the head, muttered about arranging a Portkey for her, and left to feed the animals. The goats and chickens had, briefly, been joined by a cow previously but, it turned out, cows were extremely expensive to keep on the mountain and so Hermione continued to trade the eggs for cows’ milk from one of the farmers in the nearby village.

Hermione glanced at the small pile of post she had received since arriving here with Severus and sighed. Harry and Susan had written the most, followed by Ginny and Luna. Even Ronald, eternal lost playboy that he was, had found time to write to her. Ron, sadly, had never truly got over the loss of his first great love during the war and was constantly searching for someone to take her place. She missed them all. She needed, desperately to go home. She figured it would be better to go sooner rather than later and so, she set to organising her trip.

She had been gone for a week. On the first day he had found her mug in the sink, rinsed but not washed, and had thrown it at the wall in a fit of anger. It had smashed to smithereens, too broken to be fixed. He had gone out the very next day to buy an identical one, coming down from the mountain into the town. He spoke little, his head down and his eyes unseeing until he reached the little shop where he knew she had bought the original mug.

She had been gone a week and he had started to have the Daily Prophet delivered, just in hope there would be news of her. It was with great trepidation that he picked up the paper that day and spotted her. Her wild curly hair caught the sunlight in a picture on the front page, the headline proclaiming “Gryffindor Princess Returns: Spends First Night with Weasleys” in all its glory. He shivered at the idea, wondering briefly if he was getting old. He had never felt that cold rush in his chest before, even in his first winter in the mountains.

She had been gone ten days and, according to the Prophet, she had moved into Grimmauld Place with the Potter family; Harry, Susan, James, Amelia and Remus were having fun entertaining her under their roof. Severus wondered when Susan would leave, and Hermione would be accused of breaking up the home. He had no doubt in his mind that anyone would choose a Potter over him. And Hermione was beautiful, all muscular legs and strong arms and willowy figure. He wondered, briefly, if Hermione had ever shown Harry her scars, the scars she had tried to hide from him the first time he took her to bed. But then he thought about it and realised, Potter had probably been there for the creation of most, if not all, of the scars she had. Hermione would never need to hide any part of her body from him.

She had been gone for two weeks and her side of the bed no longer held her scent. He had wept when he realised. He woke in the mornings and she wasn’t there. He read the newspaper and it reminded him of what he had lost. She had gone to England for a ready-made family. He knew he should not have denied her when she had first mentioned children. Perhaps if he had said yes, later, or any of a number of answers that were not a clear and direct ‘no’ she would have stayed with him and he would not have lost another love to a Potter.

The Prophet proclaimed that Hermione had been seen re-entering her position at the Ministry, entering into discussions with various members of the Wizengamot and taking meals with several males from her time at Hogwarts. She was seen on the arm of Ronald Weasley three nights in one week, which practically meant marriage as far as the Prophet was concerned. She was even seen on the arm of one Draco Malfoy, without his wife, and looking smug as she kissed his cheek at the end of a very long meal.

Severus had to see her. He couldn’t just let her go. He loved her more than he had ever loved Lily. He had never exactly told her but she knew, didn’t she? She had to know. Except...

Except she was a woman and he had never told her how beautiful she was, how much he loved her, how he wanted her to stay with him forever. On this mountain, with his goats and chickens and maybe even a cat or kneazle or...something she could cuddle with. He still did not want children but he would give her all the affection and cuddles he could. And if he wasn’t enough then he would buy her all the animals she could handle. And if it still was not enough, he would revisit his own issues and consider adoption or fostering.

He needed to tell her. He needed to explain all of this. It had been almost a month since he had seen her. He could go to her today. He still had one last untraceable portkey from his trips avoiding her and the pressure of people in England. He could use that and go to Grimmauld Place and see her. Let her know he was an option. Beg her to see him as an option for her. He would go to her. He just needed to make sure he was appropriately dressed.

Severus walked into his... _their_ bedroom, heading directly for the wardrobe. He took a breath and pulled apart the clothes that he wore on a regular basis – dark shorts, checked shirts, hard wearing jackets, tight black jeans that Hermione insisted made his butt look fantastic, and long sleeved light tops that covered the scar on his neck. He reached deep into the wardrobe, his hand shaking as it brushed across the soft woollen fabric he hadn’t seen in years.

He pulled the coat hanger from the back of the wardrobe and blinked slowly. Such a large expanse of black. It felt wrong to wear so much black now. But if he was going back to England, he had an image to project.

He stripped and moved to the bathroom, showering swiftly and, with a wave of his wand, he shaved the beard that had been a way of hiding. He trimmed his hair with a similar spell and moved back to the bedroom, sliding his arms into his crisp white shirt, and slipping a pair of dark boxer-briefs up his legs. He was so used to going commando, every layer he put on felt constricting and uncomfortable. 

Whereas previously doing up every button had been relaxing and one small pleasure he allowed himself, one small moment of care for himself every day, now it felt unbearably difficult and slow. Every moment, every button, he put on like a piece of armour. Armour that he suddenly felt like he needed. If he was going to go back to England, this was the mask he had to wear. A quick glance in the mirror made him curse softly. There stood the man he never wanted to be again. Professor Severus Snape. He picked up the Portkey he had hidden away, setting the destination and the activation word. He had to feed the goats and get them squared away. He hoped to only be in England for a day, two at the most.

Fully dressed and ready to face the old life he had left behind, he stepped out of the cottage and turned to head to the feed storage. He stopped, silent and staring.

“Hi.” Hermione spoke softly and gave him a beautiful smile.

“I...I thought you had gone home? To your family...to England...”

“Yes Severus...I went to England to visit and to wrap up things there. This is home. Here with you. Isn’t it?” She suddenly looked hesitant and awkward and he suddenly felt he might be about to mess everything up. He didn’t know what to say to fix it and so he stepped towards her, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her from the ground. He held her close, inhaling her wild hair and hearing her laugh.

“Severus, they are my friends but you, you are my family.”


End file.
